1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dispensing packages having a rotatable closure and, more particularly, to a package having a closure which is sealingly attached to a container and which can be rotated to an open position for dispensing and a closed position for sealing the container contents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is highly advantageous in the packaging industry to provide a package which is economically produced while being simple and reliable in operation. To this end dispensing packages have been created in which a captive closure member cooperates with a container in a manner to seal the contents therein while permitting the product to be dispensed therefrom.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,297,214 and 3,389,840 and Great Britain Specification No. 1,199,705 are illustrative of dispensing packages wherein a closure cap may be rotated about a container neck to an open or closed position. This is convenient for the consumer in that one package can both seal the container contents for storage or dispense the contents by merely twisting a top cap. However, the aforementioned prior art have experienced difficulty in that the inner skirt portion of many of the closures were easily flexed allowing talc or other powdery materials typically contained within such packages to become clogged and/or wedged about the skirt portion. When such occurs, the package cannot be effectively sealed, nor can the contents be readily dispensed. Attempts to obviate this difficulty resulted in the use of camming structures which positively forced the slotted inner skirt portions outwardly thereby enlarging the access area and enhancing the dispensation of materials from the container. The problem with this technique is that on occasion the talc or other powdery material would cake and not flow back to the container, but remain squeezed between the skirt and container neck portion. In this manner the skirt would not return to its unflexed position and would aggravate the aforementioned clogging.